There is a constant need for versatile holding apparatuses requiring a minimum amount of moving around of parts for inspection. Many companies, such those in the aircraft industry, have precious little room for inspection, transportation, and storage of large shell structures or parts. Further, large parts must be held in orientations allowing them to be inspected while not interfering with data collection.
A variety of large holding apparatuses, such as base support, base-only, and framed apparatuses, have been designed to hold various parts. However, Base support type apparatuses generally cannot hold parts in orientations required for through-transmission ultrasonic testing (with a scanning head on both sides of the part). Further, base-only type apparatuses (where part sits on a base) are limited for holding parts in proper orientations for inspection. Base-only apparatuses also cannot hold extremely large parts so that they fit in some scanners. Still further, framed apparatus designs are generally heavy structures that often extremely difficult to move. This may be problematic because parts must be moved for scanning and maintenance. It is also expensive to build a framed structure that is stiff enough for holding airplane parts.
Current apparatuses are typically not universal, and one apparatus will generally only work for one particular part. So, additional apparatuses are built, at much greater cost. Efforts to universalize framed tooling have generally produced even more complicated and expensive apparatuses.
There exists, therefore, a need for relatively light and inexpensive universal holding apparatuses. Further, there exists a need for mobile holding apparatuses for building, using, storing, and maintaining airplane parts.